So my shopping bill came to $18.87 but because I still have partial ingredients left over for other dishes, I will calculate the cost of the pasta dish on what I actually used.

Mixed Veges and Tasty Cheese.

This comes to a grand total of: $13.77

Now for $13.77 this recipe makes a massive massive amount. When I made it today, it filled a large glass baking dish, a medium ceramic baking dish, plus after tea there was still enough leftovers for a big lunch serving tomorrow.

Remember, I bake it to feed at least 8. If you have a smaller family, cut the recipe in half,

Pasta Bake Sauce.

or make up 2 big dishes and freeze one for another night. As long as your ingredients havent been frozen previously, you can freeze it for a few months 🙂

Ok, Heres what I do….

Bring a large pan of water to the boil.

Tip in 3/4 pkt of penne pasta, cook until pasta is al dente (don’t let it get too mushy as it keeps cooking a little in the oven).

While the pasta is cooking,

Place the bacon pieces in to a large sauce pan on a low heat.

Cut up the Salami into 1cm strips, add to pan.

The Large glass dish.

Add 2 jars of Sun-dried Tomato Sauce, Stir in.

Add 1/2 bag of Mixed Vegetables, Stir in.

Add 1/2 cup of water, Stir in.

Let the sauce simmer while the pasta boils.

Grate up 1/3 of the block of Tasty Cheese.

Once the pasta is ready, drain it and pour it back into the pan.

Pour the heated sauce through the pasta and mix well.

Have your baking dish ready. Sprinkle a small amount of grated cheese on the bottom of the dish. Spoon a thick layer of the mixed up pasta in to the dish. Like a lasagna, cover with a layer of cheese. Repeat until your baking dish is really full.

Cover your dish with foil (stops the cheese going black and burnt quickly) and place in the over for an hour or so. I set my oven between 180 – 200 degrees celsius. You can remove the foil 10 mins before taking the dish out the oven to give the bake a crisp top.

Side View of the Layers. Yum Yum!

Dont forget to put your garlic bread in aswell. I wrapped mine in foil and placed it on the bottom of my gas stove when I put the bake on and it was perfect when i took it out at dinner time. If you can’t pop it in at the start, put it in half an hour after you have put the pasta in.

The preparation time of this dish is around 20 mins, and the baking time is an hour or so. If you are baking it from frozen use a lower heat and bake for at least 2 hours. Nothing worse than a frozen bit in the middle 🙂

So there you go, that was dinner tonight. We all have full bellies, the wallet isn’t hurting and they got their fair share of vegetables!! In the Frozen Vege Mix I saw, broccoli, carrots, beans, peas, corn and red capsicum. That’s a win in this house!!! 🙂

Let me know if you try it, or need further instructions.

If you don’t have an Aldi supermarket within reach similar products can be purchased in other stores.